University of Nova Gorica attends the Across Annual Meeting 2026, 13th – 15th October 2026

Between 13th and 15th October 2026, Białystok University of Technology (BUT), Poland, hosted the annual meeting of the Across European University for Cross-Border Knowledge Sharing, of which the University of Nova Gorica is also a member. Nearly 250 researchers, professional staff, students and experts from the nine member universities of the alliance, as well as from other Polish and international academic institutions, took part. As many as 17 representatives of the University of Nova Gorica were among the participants.

In addition to reviewing the achievements to date of the Across project, which is co-financed by the European Union, the annual meeting was primarily dedicated to intensive discussions of the Across Task Teams on the key challenges facing higher education today, to which our alliance also seeks to find answers.

The topics discussed included:

• Micro-credentials and Atomic Learning Units: offering a joint study programme;
• Mobility: how to remove formal and legal barriers to cross-border cooperation;
• eCampus: establishing a digital platform to support students and researchers;
• Think Tank and Knowledge Creation Teams: setting interdisciplinary research priorities;
• Community involvement: building a sense of belonging among students and staff within the alliance, as well as connecting with the wider local community.

In parallel with the Across Task Team workshops, intensive working sessions were held by students from the nine member universities, where they discussed the above topics from their own perspective.

Some representatives of other European university alliances also attended the annual meeting and shared their experiences with us.

Despite the extremely intensive programme, the host university also arranged a varied programme of additional activities, such as a guided tour of the city of Bialystok, a visit to the exhibition at the BUT Centre for Modern Education, a visit to the robotics laboratory at the BUT Faculty of the Mechanical Engineering, and a Polish language workshop. For early risers, a Nordic walking march and the Across Run were organised before the start of the workshops.

We could not have wished for a warmer and more hospitable welcome than the one extended to us by our hosts from Bialystok University of Technology. The highlights of the annual meeting included the opening ceremony, a gala dinner at the city opera, and the closing event, which featured the artistic show “impAKT Attune”, a performance combining movement theatre, live music and visualisations generated in real time by artificial intelligence.

Above all, the Across Annual Meeting 2026 was a unique opportunity for representatives of the nine member universities to meet in person and forge even stronger ties and mutual trust, which will make an important contribution to the implementation of the project in the coming months.

As stated by Dr. Agata Mannino, International Coordinator of Across, at the opening ceremony: “If someone asked me today how much Across is really worth, I could answer in the simplest way: over 14 million euros, because that is how much the European Union co-financing amounts to. However, I believe that the right answer is much more complex. The real value of Across lies in the relationships, cooperation and contacts that the employees and students of the nine universities have built in just 22 months.”

Prof. Dr. Maximilian Eibl from the Chemnitz University of Technology (Germany), the university that serves as the leader of the European University Across, is of a similar opinion: "Across is first and foremost about people, meetings and building an integrated Europe together. In two years, we have achieved much more than we initially assumed, especially given the complex structure of our venture. The coming years will be crucial to consolidate these ties, prove our potential and ensure the sustainable functioning of the alliance for years to come.

Prof. Dr. Dorota Krawczyk, Vice-Rector for International Cooperation of the Bialystok University of Technology and university coordinator of the alliance, emphasizeD: "For us, Across is much more than just a four-year project. We deeply hope and plan that this will be an undertaking that will last for many years, supported by further grants – not only from the Erasmus+ programme, but also from the Horizon Europe programme.

Text prepared by Dr. Maja Bovcon on the basis of the official press release prepared by Monika Rokicke. The link includes the entire official photogallery.